A Second Wife
by crayonboxromance
Summary: The life of the second wife to Prince Dastan is a sadder one than you might think.
1. Chapter 1

_Just been watching Prince of Persia; Sands of Time with Jake Gyllenhaal.  
Who is yummy, yummy, muscles and tummy if I do say so myself.  
Also, anyone else think it's a fairly Titanic moment when it's all "I won't let go… oh sorry Tamina, my bad..."? Just me?  
_

_**Disclaimer; Prince of Persia is not my universe. If it was Prince Dastan would be rolling around in my bed right now. With me :)**  
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I am the second wife. I live in the lap of the luxury with many servants around me, obeying my every whim. I have everything that I need and should want for nothing.

But I do.

I want for family. I want for freedom. I want for love.

Mine was a political marriage to Prince Dastan of Persia. His first wife is the beautiful Princess Tamina of Alamut with whom he is besotted. I knew I could never interfere with this love, I wouldn't begin to try. How could I interfere in a love which I wanted for my own?

My father offered me to Persia when the royalty came to dine in our city. My previous potential-fiancée was dining with us too and I am certain that it was he who convinced the Prince to take my hand despite it not being in his nature to marry more than one. My previous potential-fiancée was a fat, leering man with a purple face. His eyes would wander, only to be shortly followed by his hands. Prince Tus and Garsiv did not notice my displeasure at his wandering hands but Prince Dastan did and discussed my situation with the Princess Tamina. Surprisingly Princess Tamina agreed that it was the best way to free me.

The wedding lasted three days with Tamina ever present. She and I became great friends over the course of those three days. She taught me to pray like the people of Alamut, taught me how to ride a horse and other such things. We would talk about our lives in separate cities but found we were similar in many ways. Over those three nights Dastan and I were expected to retire to our room but there we did nothing. It was awkward for the first night until we talked. I was extremely nervous, it was something I had never done before, talk with a man as if he were my equal. But Dastan made it easy for that to be easy, seem much more natural than it was.

For those three nights we spoke until we could speak no more. He told me of his life on the streets and I told him of my wish to be able to wield a sword, having watched my brothers do so for years, albeit with a rush of red on my face. He took my wish seriously and began to teach me how to fight when he had the chance. At first I held back but he coaxed me from my embarrassment by making sure we would only practice in private, or with Tamina. The only time we're ever truly alone is during the nights where he is expected to stay by side and when he teaches me to run across buildings as Tamina has no wish to learn the skill.

I began to watch my new husband, whose own eyes never strayed from his beautiful first wife. I watched him interact with his men, I placed bets on his fights generally picking against him. He'd been off the streets for too long, the men fought dirtier than he now. I will never tell him of course.

He is a great man, his life on the street giving him the humility that there should be in a future king. I'm afraid to say that I fell in love with him over the course of time.

I keep to myself when out of their company. Interacting with servants is not allowed and I find the other concubines dim-witted, only caring about the jewels on their back and being presented before their Princes in such a manner that would put them in higher favour. So I spend my days fighting with the boy soldiers at my command who I believe to look upon me as more than just someone they fought with. I must admit that I quite enjoy the attention and sometimes practice more for that rather than to develop my skills. I spend a great deal of time with Dastan's men, organising fights, foot races and the gambling that too often occurs. I ride out, always accompanied by other soldiers who take me to a plain where I can ride more freely. Other women think me odd to ride and fight and never shop but will never say so to my face nor to Tamina's although we can still feel their whispers. I read copious amounts of books in the many libraries, reading about worlds that I can only dream of visiting.

King Sharaman also began to allow me to pray with him seeing my religious and studious nature. He requested that I be his company during the banquets and sometimes I dance for him as I'm a good dancer, with no hint of bias. Prince Tus and Garsiv entrust their children to me sometimes to teach them lessons that I have previously learnt in my home city. I teach them many things in the great libraries, play with them in the gardens. I yearn for a child of my own even though I knew I will never have one from Dastan unless it was asked of me. I started to think that in my old life, that may have happened.

Whilst I love both Dastan and Tamina, one as a sister and one as a man that I wished would be a true husband at least once; they have only taken me into a new prison. A prison where my every wish was obeyed, my every whim catered for and my every complaint appeased. A gilded, beautiful birdcage where I could only escape on my husband's or his wife's behest, because where he went she would surely follow. In my old prison I _knew_ I could not ride or fight or fall in love with a prince. I _knew_ exactly what was expected of me and could play along accordingly, manipulating my new husband any way I wanted. I could have my child and encourage my husband's wandering hands never to touch me again. It would be a content existence, instead of Dastan showing me an exciting, loving existence that is never quite tangible.

Here I am floating in a sense of my own meaningless, save the time I spend with Dastan, listening to his wild adventures, laughing with his men as he loses another match, running with him like a free woman. Or the times I pray with Tamina, dance for King Sharaman and teach the children knowing I will probably never have one of my own with Dastan.

I am the second wife.

I live in the lap of the luxury with many servants around me, obeying my every whim. I have everything that I need and should want for nothing.

But I do.

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_I'm thinking of writing an add-on to this.  
Because I think Dastan would be in love with her, even if he is in love with Tamina._

_What say you gentle chaps?  
(I really shouldn't writing A/N's when I'm this tired. Seriously.)  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_I finally wrote a second bit! I'm sorry it was such a long time, especially after such an over-whelming response!  
I'd like to thank  
**EmeraldGaze, Asher Knight, SoulSaviour15, Vampire Queen, Otaku Wench**  
**zombie chow, Skyla Doll, Dinny93, I-Eat-My-Vegetables, bellathedisenchanted**  
**Jtoasn, Anime Princess, Shani8, Pghj2005 **and** illuminazione.**_

_again, sorry for the humungous wait but I hope this is satisfactory!**  
**_

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Don't think I don't notice my second wife because I do. I see her every day whether she realises it or not.

She used to be carefree. She sung quietly off key when she thought no one was watching. She practiced dancing in her rooms to entertain herself before I was to arrive at her rooms for the night. I would watch for a few moments before I entered. During the nights I'd stay with her she used to laugh all the time, laugh at my stories, at my awful jokes but now I only hear her laugh by chance when she is with the children, Tamina, my men or my father.

There were nights when we'd just sit on the roofs we'd run across and talk about everything. With an unguarded expression like a shining light she'd excitedly spill out the best parts of her day, usually revolving around the times she'd ride out by herself or teaching the children. Then she'd ask for stories from my childhood, often exchanging hers with mine. Sometimes I'd tell her stories that I thought she might like from my travels noticing how her expression went from eager to dreamy and her eyes would stare wistfully at the horizon.

Until a few months ago when she suddenly withdrew into herself. She's been distancing herself from me and I do not understand why.

Despite her superior birth and usually quiet demeanour she does not shy away from people beneath her status. Rather, she relished the fact that she was allowed to speak with them and often did so. So we used to organise the fights of my men together. Money seems to be her forte. To begin with I would keep an eye on her when I fought but she encountered no problems and her and Bis seemed to get on exceptionally well.

Now she no longer appears to watch me fight but watches from the arras above the men's quarters where she thinks that I don't notice her, having organised the match with Bis beforehand. They always bet against me and think that I don't realise. They will wait until I have left obviously but I hide in the arras that she uses. She's too innocent to think that I might use her own tricks against her.

We used to run together, across buildings, across Alamut. At first she struggled like any other but her readiness to learn helped her through it and soon we'd be running across the rooftops. Her face expressed all thought of freedom and always ended up red and breathless with her usual beaming smile. For those few moments, on top of the temple at the end of the journey, she forgot I existed and stared towards the horizon again, trying to get her breath back. Running was when she was most unguarded. I'm assuming it still is.

Now when we run, after I've cornered her and coaxed her in to it, she'll disappear when my back is turned only to appear after hours of searching on the rooftop of some library or temple, sometimes even _in_ the same library or temple praying or with the children.

I had once taught her to fight with a sword; I trained her, like I would my men. She was such an eager learner once I had persuaded her from the cocoon she had wrapped herself in due to her old life. I had grown to relish the days where I would teach her to fight, her face would pucker in concentration and a look of surprise would flash across it if she ever achieved something worthy of praise. I liked to teach her, liked having an eager student, as Tamina had already had training, she wasn't the best by any means but she refused to be trained by me.

Now I watch my second wife training with Bis and the boy soldiers of Persia's ever-expanding army, tossing their swords around like some child's toy. She's gotten so skilled that sometimes it is her training them. I watch from a hiding place, where she also watches me train, and feel pity on the infatuated boys whose minds take her from fighter to fantasy even though they know it will never be. As a bride of Persia no other man is allowed to touch her, a fact that Tamina protests strongly against but can do nothing about.

I wonder sometimes if we did the right thing taking her from her home but I believe we did. I doubt in her old life that she thought any of these things, running, and sword-fighting possible.

My wandering thoughts are interrupted when I hear a huff of breath close to where I'm sitting. I know who it is straight away as only one other person could get up onto this rooftop. She's about to turn and run before I can respond but I am too quick for her.

"Tell me princess, why you stare at the horizon so much?" I ask it as a question but it comes out as an order. I don't mean it to but the only time I hear her speak now is in obedience and the tone is force of habit. She hesitates for a few moments before cautiously taking her place beside me. The pause before she speaks is much more awkward than normal.

"I want to see what's there." Her voice is quiet, as if it isn't her place to express any wish to travel despite the freedom of speech Tamina and I want to give her. I guess it's too ingrained in her system not to say anything. Her wish makes sense however when I think of all the maps and books that I see her pore over, all the wistful expressions when I tell her certain stories.

"You want to travel and explore the world but there are wild and dangerous things out there princess." It's not like I want to negate her dreams, I really just want to keep her talking to me about all of her dreams like she used to when we were comfortable with each other. But finally on the last word, she snaps as if she was holding it all back like a dam.

"Stop calling me princess Dastan. I am the second wife. I should never have asked you to teach me to sword fight; I should never have asked to be a man. It wasn't my place." Her hands clap over her mouth in horror at what she has just said. There is a heavy silence over the both of us but she refuses to run away, face the consequences of talking to a prince with such disrespect. But I am neither Tus nor Garsiv.

"Are you not happy with what we have given? Would you prefer the life we took you from?" I refuse to believe that she is unhappy here, or that her old life was better.

"… I don't know." She sighs heavily, answering hesitantly once again, "In my old life I knew my dreams would never come true. But here… here you've made some of them a reality but instead of being happy like I should be, it only makes me want the others more. I can ride horses, fight men at their own level, _talk_ to people…" Once she began to relax her guard around me her true feelings, probably bottled up for so long, came spilling out.

"But you cannot travel?" I interrupted but there was more yet to come.

"Well yes but not just that Dustan. I want a baby, a child for my own; I have always wanted a child. But now I am married to you no other man can touch me as, not to be presumptuous, but I'm sure you'd allow me a lover. And as much as I love Tamina I doubt she will let her husband lay with another woman, married or otherwise." Finally she stops, taking in a massive breath of air to replace what she'd lost in that last speech. Her news falls on my stunned ears. I never thought that wanting a child could enter the equation. But then again what did I know? I never knew women would even want to learn to fight or ride.

"You _are_ too presumptuous. _I_ would never let you take a lover. I'm far too jealous a man to allow that." I am not in love with her as I love Tamina even though Tamina has told me that she would understand if I did, but she is _my_ wife and I find her captivating in her innocence and enthusiasm. I would not even allow Bis to touch her even though I know he finds her as captivating as I do, "Tamina doesn't want to travel, her duties lie with Alamut, so you will go in her stead. And I promise that one day soon you will have the child you wish for, our child. Would that make you happy princess? Will that make you talk to me again?" I turn my head towards her and am shocked by what I see.

The princess is smiling at me for the first time in months.

Happy at last.


	3. Chapter 3

_It's been a long time again people! But I was watching Source Code and I had a sudden Prince of Persia spasm!  
I adore the amount of reviews I got so I have to shout out to everyone!  
**Asher Knight, Woffles 92, Emerald Gaze,  
Amor Mio, Pghj2005, flinn,  
thump, zombie chow, Faiths-Light13,  
iced-apple, Isabella94 **and **NIKHITA!**_

_I hope you're all still here for this installment.**  
**_

_This is from Tamin'a POV. And next installment (although who knows when that'll be ;) will be the second wife again.  
She finally has a name! Should be familiar.**  
**_

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He loves her. He might not quite realise it yet but he loves her. Prince Dastan, a husband who seemed to have loved me instantly without me ever quite realising why, has fallen for another woman. Loved? Loves? I do not quite know anymore.

It can be considered my fault I suppose. I agreed to save the girl from that awful man, fatter and more purple than the Hindu Kush themselves. I still do not regret my decision and I feel that Prince Dastan does not either. I see them watching each other every day. Dastan used to come in to the sacred Great temple to watch me pray with his father, intrigued by the religion different to Persia. It was like I was his entertainment, his calming influence and his reprieve from his duties. But now I believe that he comes in to watch her, hidden away, as her way of prayer is more different still. He is a lively speaker with me, however, and appears to know more about me than I will ever know of him. Although he sometimes expects me to know things about him that I do not, such as his unusual upbringing. How was I ever to guess that he was an orphan of the streets before he became a prince? That is not something that one would instantly spring to mind when thinking of the Lion of Persia.

He is playful like a lion. A purring great cat. But not with me. With me he is always on his best behaviour, worried that he may say something to offend me and he refuses to comment upon his knowledge of the Dagger of Time. But with her… With her he is the purring lion, entirely natural, eager to teach her everything I wouldn't allow him to teach me, running with her like they were free men across rooftops They are famous for that now.

He is in love with her. Not like the way he loves me, or thinks he loves me, I am not sure. Dastan loves me in a long, passionate way. A passion like a slow-burning candle. One that will last for a long time but will eventually flame out. I am contented with this for, despite the connections he may think we have, I have no memory of these and nothing to bind us together. For now, until the flame burns out, I will love him in the exact same slow and passionate way. But my duties as Guardian and priestess will come first, as ever. Dastan loves his second wife in a quiet way, an overwhelming urge to protect her even though she has now been trained to protect herself, someone with whom he can grow and adventure together. There is a fascination with her; the mix of high status with a humbling modesty astounds him. Dastan's love for his second wife can only be described as gentle.

I am jealous. I should not be. This was also my choice as Dastan will always consult with me about any decision to be made about Alamut, my people or our marriage. But I am always watching them together fighting, gambling, running, playing, talking **every day**_ together._ He asks for my permission to be with her. I tell him I understand. And I do. She is pretty, innocent and full of beaming smiles. I cannot even dislike the girl for she is my friend and despite all of her faults (who can dislike someone with faults?) she is above all, honest and genuine. I could not ask for a better person to take my husband's love from me. And I am jealous because of that. She is afraid to be around me in Dastan's company. She feels bad that her husband is taking his second wife travelling, bad that she is in love with her husband as if she has no right to. How could I dislike this woman?

She has been in love with Dastan for a while, confusing him by withdrawing within herself when she had not done so before. I expressed my concern with it first had begun but the more I too watched her, not as intently as him, the more I realised that this was perhaps for the best. She was unhappy, beginning to want more that she could actually have as a wife of Persia. Travelling, fighting, and looking after Tus and Garsiv's children when there were servants to do so. The way she was with them made it obvious that a child was what she desired the most although Dastan never noticed.

They must have talked about it sometime recently as two days ago Dastan approached me hesitantly in our bedroom and ordered the servants from the room. I had thought that he'd wanted something else as that usually followed the same pattern. But instead he sat me down gently, holding my hands with his face full of discomfort. He was struggling to find the words for his request. I knew it was something big as telling me that she would travel with him instead of I was not so an uncomfortable situation because he knew that I did not want to leave Alamut.

"We have never talked about bringing a child in to our marriage Tamina," was his opening line and I instantly knew where this conversation was heading, "and if you were to want a child I want you to know that I would be ready. People expect it from us now…" It was not the people of Persia he wished to appease but his father who had made a favourite of Dastan.

"Dastan that is not a reason for us to have a child. Just because your father wishes it. As a Guardian I may only ever give you a girl so that she too can be raised to one day become the Guardian of the Sands of Time." This was something I should have mentioned before the marriage or at the beginning but I did not think that I would grow to love the Lion of Persia as he loves me nor contemplate having a child with him. Dastan nods quickly, squeezing my hand as if he understands which he may do. His knowledge of the Sands of Time, its power and my role shocks me,

"I understand. But Farah is unhappy and we took her from her old life to avoid that unhappiness. She desires a child. I should have mentioned this…"

I cannot help but interrupt him, "I love Farah like a sister. I have allowed her to travel with you, fight with you, _gamble_ with you and the people. But I cannot allow her to have a child with you before I do."

And with that I saunter out.

Farah may take my husband's love from me but I will not allow her to take my right of bearing his children.


	4. Chapter 4

_Someone kindly pointed out that it's been two years since my last update! Well here it is. The final one! I hope everybody likes the ending._

_Thank you all who have reviewed. I am indebted!_

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I am the second wife. I live in the lap of the luxury with many servants around me, obeying my every whim. I have everything that I need and should want for nothing.

I don't.

Three years ago Prince Dastan married me in political manoeuvre to secure my house's support and to save me from an arranged marriage to a disgusting man. A large man with a purple face and chubby, wandering hands. My marriage to Dastan was a welcome alternative which I took without question. For the first few months I was happy. Happier than I had ever been. I found a friend with the first wife, Tamina and with Bis. I found conversation amongst Dastan's men. Most of all I found acceptance as a more... 'forward' thinking woman of Persia in my husband Dastan. He taught me to fight. He taught me to speak aloud my thoughts without fear of an angered reaction. I could follow the dreams I had only ever told my brothers as a little child who knew nothing of the world.

Yet for all of this I grew unhappy.

Only some of my dreams were realised. The full extent could never be had. The love of a husband was just beyond my reach. Nothing was ever fully tangible. Like it was all on the tip of my tongue but the taste couldn't be recalled. Finally though, two years later, one dream was finally realised. I was to travel with my Prince Dastan. It had been discussed but the opportunity never arose until then. It changed everything.

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"Here it is Princess." He had said to me upon our arrival in Persia's fair capital and the royal seat. This is where King Sharaman spends his times when not visiting his sons in their various strongholds. I very much enjoy King Sharaman's company. When I am not around Dastan he enlivens the banquets. We sometimes walk the libraries of Alamut together when he visits us and discuss literature at length. I hoped that would hold true here. I barely had a chance to see the great Babylon before we were taken into the carriage. I wasn't allowed to ride on horseback. This was my concession to Dastan. If I were to travel with him I must travel as safely as he would allow it.

Inside the palace was beautiful. We were to spend three weeks here to give Tamina time. Tamina had a child. A beautiful one year old girl who was to begin her training in the religion of Alamut soon. I was not allowed to know what this would entail but Dastan knew. He understood although he did not like being away from his first child. We were welcomed with open arms and there was a feast held in our honour that night. It was this first night in Babylon where Dastan took me aside and announced that if I still wanted a child it could be mine. Having encountered many wives of Persia whose only option was to bear children I felt, and still feel, blessed.

That night was the first night Dastan touched me as a man would his wife. It would not be the last. I could not ask for someone better than Dastan. I sometimes imagine what my first night with my other suitor would have been like. My fat, miserable, selfish suitor. And I smile because it never happened. We were together every night after that, making up for lost time. By the end of those three weeks I was with child.

But before then Dastan gave me a tour of the slums in which he used to live before King Sharaman saved his life and raised him as his own. There was a wistful air about him and a certain nostalgia. What I saw, however, made me weep. It made me question all of my previous unhappiness. I saw life as I had never seen it before. All of the raggedy children, the bone-thin people and the derelict living spaces. My entire life I had been sheltered from the world. I had known of poverty but I had never seen it, felt it, known it. Dastan was excited to run the rooftops, reliving his youth. I wasn't able to share in his joy although it was certainly interesting to run somewhere new. Alamut was no longer mystery as Babylon was.

It was not only the slums that made me question my previous unhappiness. The politics of Babylon were so different from Alamut and my old life. In my old life I wasn't privy to the politics of men, just a pawn in their plans, and with Dastan and Tamina I had no interest. But politics was everywhere in Babylon. It was dangerous and it was brutal. How King Sharaman could handle all of the poison I will never know. By the end of the three weeks, despite the beauty of the city, the libraries, the wonders, I was ready to return. My thirst for travelling had not been quenched as I knew there were other places to see. Dastan was most pleased by this.

He loves me. I know this now. It is in everything he does. Naturally he does not love me like he loves Tamina, with passion like a great fire. But he does love me and in a way that I can hold onto. In the way he touched me, in the way he looked after me and in very much the way he reacted to my being with child. There had been a great excitement, a very many questions on my certainty and very much excitement amongst the men.

My experiences in Babylon had changed how I felt about Alamut. I had never known poverty, hunger or pain. For once in my life I was grateful. How long this will last I do not know but there are three things I know with certainty.

I am Princess Farah. I am the wife of the Lion of Persia. I am the mother of his son.


End file.
